Graves Overlook Loop

Dogs Leashed

Features Birding · Fall Colors · Views · Wildlife

Though this loop is only around two miles long, it has some challenging slopes to work your way up and then down on the way back. But the views, especially when the leaves are down, are well worth the effort. In the warmer months, the stretch of trail along the lake can be a nice place to cool off and dip your toes in or let the dog splash around.

For visitors looking to explore a bit more beyond the Graves Hill Overlook, continue northeast to find the glacial kettle holes called the "Devil's Soup Bowl."

More information on the MI DNR website.

Turn off Gun Lake Road at the entrance drive for the Long Lake Outdoor Center and find the pull-off trailhead parking immediately on your right or continue down the road for more parking.

From the trailhead near Gun Lake Road, head into the woods (east) starting a short climb. Because this hike is a loop and the trails in Yankee Springs can be traveled in either direction (for foot traffic), you can bear right (counterclockwise) and head toward Hall Lake first or, like this GPS shows, head left (clockwise) to climb a quick hill before completing the ascent to Graves Hill Overlook and then return along the Hall Lake shoreline. Along the shore, you'll be traveling on a section of the NCT (NCT: MI Segment 6 - West Michigan), which spans the entirety of Michigan from top to bottom for over 1,000 miles!

Ancestral lands and hunting grounds of the Ottawa peoples and Chief Noonday.